On August 4th, I flew down to Georgia for my official launch. After four days of last minute sessions and preparations, my squad of 49 left the country! After waiting 11 hours in the airport, we flew to Istanbul, Turkey. From there we worked our way back to Tirana, Albania and finally took a bus to our host city, Lezhe. We were greeted with ease by our host George, who has a lovely compound for all of us to stay! We sleep in cute bunk houses, and have hot showers. Our gathering space though is on the 3rd floor, so we have beautiful views of the city and mountains. We can even see the old castle ruins, which is something I’m not used to. Our new city has many cultural buildings, with little family-run businesses. The town is very poor, but has a lot of character. Unfortunately it is a 30 minute walk to town- not ideal when you’re looking for Wi-Fi or an ATM. I am slowly learning to live without my cell phone in my hand all day, and it has been a nice transition learning how to disconnect.
We have started a lot of our ministry by helping our host work on his farm and keep the grounds clean. We took an entire day to garden, by pulling weeds, pruning bushes, and taking care of the fruit our host grows on his farm. We have also done a lot of work with just keeping the farm together, like tending to the sheep, helping in the kitchen, or cleaning the animal’s buildings.
The food is a new adventure! We luckily eat lots of carbs- an easy adjustment for me. For breakfast everyday we have hard-boiled eggs and toast and jam. Lunch and dinner varies between different soups, potatoes and mystery meat, which we still haven’t figured out what exactly it is. It keeps things interesting! The food in town is an adventure as well. Not being able to read any of the menu always makes it a pleasant surprise when we get our food…. So far I have yet to try anything crazy!
This past weekend we also had our first adventure day. Our host organized a cultural day for us, which included going to an old castle, a new town, and a beach.
I will be here until the 24th, and then will move back to Tirana for the rest of my time in Albania. Until then, watch my newest video to see what else i’ve been doing this week(:
here’s the link to my video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJKxjF9-LR8
All my love! Sarah
